I wish Nijinsky, Diaghilev and Balanchine (and, of course, all the others) were still alive. They could tell us so very much. Still, we have Freddie Franklin.
hi balletnut - and it's a pity time machines are not sold in corner stores - i'd be in one and back to Paris 1909 ... and yes amazing Frederic Franklin is still alive and on stage - he seems from an era long past!
The sequence from 10.05 is from the de Valois/Messel production at the Royal Ballet ???? Marvellous documentary - all those figures from the past. I actually met Massine ...1971.
He was very old & very tiny & had a naughty glint in his eye.
hi Michael - yep, it's the famed de Valois/Messel 1946 production - it was the first production of the ballet shown on US TV and broadcast in colour though it only survives on black-and-white kinescope. lucky to have met massine! i met markova once - i was in a group of convent garden admin friends and chatting to a woman with an extraordinary beehive hairdo - and after someone said 'what was she like!!!" i didn't imagine i'd been talking to this famed ballets russes legend!
sad all are gone now. ... so good to see our beloved Balanchine with his animated way of telling a story. Now that we are 100 years past Ballets Russea days, it is fun to track the timeline and think, "100 years ago today Firebird premiered" or "100 years ago today Petruchka", etc. (at least it is for me - haha).
hi BernardProfitendieu - yes, sad they are all gone - and lucky the documentary film 'ballets russes' was made in 2006, when the last remnants were still alive. i tend to span back using my own life - so many of the periods back to my childhood and nijinsky and karsavina were premiering 'le spectre de la rose' - fun in my way! cheers
I wish Nijinsky, Diaghilev and Balanchine (and, of course, all the others) were still alive. They could tell us so very much. Still, we have Freddie Franklin.
balletnut 1 month ago
hi balletnut - and it's a pity time machines are not sold in corner stores - i'd be in one and back to Paris 1909 ... and yes amazing Frederic Franklin is still alive and on stage - he seems from an era long past!
nickwallacesmith 1 month ago
The sequence from 10.05 is from the de Valois/Messel production at the Royal Ballet ???? Marvellous documentary - all those figures from the past. I actually met Massine ...1971.
He was very old & very tiny & had a naughty glint in his eye.
Thanks Nick, Michael.
PIPZZZ02 2 months ago
hi Michael - yep, it's the famed de Valois/Messel 1946 production - it was the first production of the ballet shown on US TV and broadcast in colour though it only survives on black-and-white kinescope. lucky to have met massine! i met markova once - i was in a group of convent garden admin friends and chatting to a woman with an extraordinary beehive hairdo - and after someone said 'what was she like!!!" i didn't imagine i'd been talking to this famed ballets russes legend!
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago
sad all are gone now. ... so good to see our beloved Balanchine with his animated way of telling a story. Now that we are 100 years past Ballets Russea days, it is fun to track the timeline and think, "100 years ago today Firebird premiered" or "100 years ago today Petruchka", etc. (at least it is for me - haha).
BernardProfitendieu 2 months ago
hi BernardProfitendieu - yes, sad they are all gone - and lucky the documentary film 'ballets russes' was made in 2006, when the last remnants were still alive. i tend to span back using my own life - so many of the periods back to my childhood and nijinsky and karsavina were premiering 'le spectre de la rose' - fun in my way! cheers
nickwallacesmith 2 months ago